Brick City Boxing

Jones-Sheika headlines boxing/MMA PPV show March 21in Pensacola

PENSACOLA, Fla. (March 16, 2009) – Thirty-eight fight veteran Jason Guida, replacing Ken Shamrock, plans to nail former WWE star Bobby Lashley on the March 21st pro boxing/MMA pay-per-view event at the Pensacola Civic Center.

Eight-time world boxing champion Roy Jones, Jr. (52-5, 38 KOs) faces 4-time world title challenger Omar Sheika (27-8, 18 KOs) in the main event on the hybrid pro boxing/mixed-martial arts card, presented by Square Ring Promotions, in association with Hirsch Borao Boxing and the Pensacola Civic Center.

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The unparalleled pro boxing/MMA show is being distributed by Square Ring Promotions, Inc. at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in North America on cable and satellite via iNDemand, TVN, DirecTV and Dish Network in the United States, as well as Viewer's Choice, Shaw Cable, Star Choice and Bell TV in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

Guida (17-19-0, 2 NC, 4 KOs, 10 submissions), fighting out of the South Side of Chicago, is a union carpenter who has fought at anywhere between 185 and 235 pounds during his 5-½ year career. He accepted the fight on a little more than one week’s notice to fight Lashley (1-0, 1 KO), 3-time NCAA champion (1996-98) and 4-time All-America wrestler at Missouri Valley College.

“I’m always training and this has become my MO,” he explained. “I do a lot of short notice fights, where I’ve been most successful, and this fight fell into my lap. I’ve always made the best of it and I plan on doing the same Saturday night in Pensacola. I want to fight the top guys; Lashley may not be a top guy but he’s a top name, and beating him will put me on the map again.”

Guida may be giving away 5-inches and around 30 pounds to the Adonis-like built Lashley, but Jason has a significant advantage in MMA fighting experience, 39 pro fights and 78 rounds to Bobby’s single, one-round fight. In fact there’s a more than a slight similarity between Guida and another late replacement for Shamrock, Seth Petruzelli, who upset Internet sensation Kimbo Slice last October. “I definitely see my experience being a huge factor,” Guida remarked. “But Lashley has less experience than Kimbo and I have more than Seth had. I don’t know if Seth (he stopped Kimbo in the opening round) was set to go three rounds, but I’m ready to finish Lashley or outpoint him. I was training for a fight that fell-out in February and I just kept training.

“Size doesn’t matter. I’ve had my best fights against big guys and put my hands on guys bigger than Bobby. I wrestled (UFC heavyweight champion) Brock Lesnar in junior college. I don’t think Lashley has the background or knows how to put his body into MMA as well as Lesnar. MMA is new to Bobby. I don’t have anything against him. Someday he could be good for MMA. I welcome him, after I beat him, to work at our club (Hellhouse) to learn how to fight. Lashley’s going to find out that this is MMA not WWE. He’s in for a rude awakening, which probably will be a good thing -- he’ll be fighting a real MMA guy. I don’t wish him any ill harm, in fact, I wish him the best because beating him will look even better if he goes on to succeed in MMA. ”

After graduating from Missouri Valley College, Lashley joined the U.S. Army and was a 2-time Armed Forces Champion and 2002 Military Games Championship silver medalist. Two years ago, Lashley became a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar, joining Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 23 in a bet against WWE president Vince McMahon. Lashley won the match and helped Trump shave McMahon’s head in the ring. Bobby made his MMA debut last December 13, stopping Joshua Franklin only 0.41 into the opening round.

Guida, who will become a father for the first time in July, has dedicated his March 21 fight in memory of Ryan Burke, a 15-year-old wrestler who also trained at Hellhouse and died last month in an accident.

The MMA portion of the hybrid card features a match-up between world-class grapplers Roy “Big Country” Nelson (13-6, 6 KOs, 4 Submissions), ex-IFL heavyweight champion, and former UFC title challenger Jeff “Snowman” Monson (27-8, 2 KOs, 15 Submissions).

Tickets, priced at $128.00, $103.00, $78.00, $53.00 & $28.00 are on sale and available at all Ticketmaster locations, the Pensacola Civic Center Box Office and ticketmaster.com.